Dark Knight's Paris premiere cancelled after shooting

Workers dismantle on Friday the installation set up for the Paris premiere of The Dark Knight Rises after the showing was cancelled after the shootings in Colorado. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

PARIS — The Paris premiere of the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises was cancelled Friday after a gunman killed at least a dozen people at a Colorado opening of the same film.

The event at a movie theatre on the French capital’s famed Champs-Elysees Avenue was supposed to include director Christopher Nolan and stars like Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

But on Friday afternoon, workers were pulling down the red carpet display. Some could be seen carrying away a large mask that had adorned the facade of the theatre.

Warner Bros. said in a statement that it was also cancelling all media interviews in the city. The studio said it was “deeply saddened” by the shooting.

In the early hours of Friday morning, a man wearing a gas mask released an unknown substance into a crowded movie theatre in a Denver suburb and opened fire. At least 12 people were killed and at least 50 wounded. The shooter, a man in his 20s, has been arrested.